Porsche 996.2 water pump failure

[Jheal1977]

Last week my water pump decided it did not want to live any more. There are 2 impeller blades missing after flushing the system. Is the only way to find these to rebuild the heads/engine? Is there a significant risk to the health of the engine if they are left in? Does anyone know where the bits can hide?
Any advice would be welcome based on previous experience.

[rival38]

Nasty situation: You need the advice of a trusted specialist I think, somebody who knows if the blades tend to come off whole or in tiny pieces. I imagine it might depend on the pump, was it original or aftermarket ? and so on.
A specialist will also be able to tell you where the debris will try to hide and perhaps if there is any way to flush it out. I suspect the small cooling ducts in the heads are going to be in the frame there and will likely be hard to flush. The cooling of 996 heads is a weak spot, any impediment to the free flow of coolant is bad news.
Good luck & out of interest do you know how many miles / years old the pump was?

[Jheal1977]

The car has 90000 miles and is the original pump. Car has only done 2000 miles in the last 2 years. Was on the list of jobs to do this year. One of the joys of 996 ownership I suppose. I have read that sometimes the pieces like to hide in the oil cooler. The treasure hunt will continue tomorrow

[Rockster]

How vigorous did you flush the cooling system? Did you *back* flush both the engine block and the radiators?

You want to be sure you catch all fluid you flush through the cooling system and filter it through something so you can see what you might have flushed out. The missing impeller material might be in pieces.